Toy building construction



June 22 ,1926. l- O 1,589,827 l H. H. wEssEL TOY BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed June 23, 1925 y t* INVENTOR Mmmm@ Patented .lune 22, 1926.

@Flil HOW'ABJD E. WESSEL OF NEW' BRTAIll, CONNECTCUT, A SSGNOR TO THE EART c COOLEY COlr'lANY, NCOREORATED, OF NEi/V BRTAN, CONNECTCUT, A COR- ORATION OF CGNNECTICUT.

Application led June 23, 1925. Serial No. 38,968.

M y invention relates to a structural member lor a. toy building' construction.

llleretoiore, in toy building' sets, the elon- Krated bar members the "eolhave usually been sul'istantially rectaiigular in shape or have had rounded ends. TWhen it is desired to connect two such round ended members end to end, it is necessary to apply a plate over the abutting` ends and to use at least four bolts or the like for securing the same together since, with only two bolts, the rounded ends would permit turning on each other and thus a rigid structure would not be produced. rgain, with such round-ended constructions, it is necessary to use at least two bolts for securing the same to any member when it is desired that the end of the structural unit be secured thereto.

lt is an object oit my invention, therefore, to provide a structural member 'for a` toy building,` set having' a substantially enlarged or liared end so that the same may act as a substantial 'looting or brace against another similar member or other member to which it is desired to secure the same.

Brietly stated, in the preferred form oit the invention employ an elongated sheet metal bar, preferably of uniform width throughout the major portion thereof. @ne or, in some cases, both ends are flared or enlarged to a substantial extent, so that the end is ot substantially greater width than the main body portion of the bar. rlhis lared end is preferably substantially flat on iis outer end so as to aliord a` good bearing` surt'arc on another member to which it is desired that this structural member shall be wcm-ed. lhe bar, including,` the l'lared end, is preferably provided with a number of apertures, which may be equidistantly spaced to facilitate securing` other structural members thereto at various points along the length thereof. lVhen both ends are flared the two end apertures in the bar arepreterably equidistantly spaced from their respective ends.

in the c rawing's which show, for illustrative purposes only, a preferred form of the invention- Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of one 'form o the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary View showing one application of the invention;

8 is an edge view of the parts shown in 2;.

Fig. el is a side view in partial section ot another application of the invention.

ln said drawings, 5 indicates a structural member formed ot sheet metal and preterably elongated and of uniform width throughout the major portion of thel length thereof. [rt one or both ends the bar 5 is fiar d outwardly at opposite sides, as indicated at 6-7, so as to form a flare or what may be termed a lish-tail outer end, of substantially greater width than the width of the main portion of the bar. The outer end of the bar is preferably substantially fiat, as indicated at 8, to aliord a. goed substantial bearing surface aoainst any other ineinher to which it is desired to secure the structural member herein shown.

rllhe bar may be provided with apertures such as 9-9, which may be equidistantly spaced and may be placed throughout the length oi' the bar. Each extreme end aperture is spaced from its respective end oit the bar one hall' the distance between two adj acent holes or perforations. Such a. structural unit may be employed for building,` up various structures and two or more may be secured end to end, so as to "forni longer units.

lllllhen two such harsh-5 are to be secured together end to end as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 8, the flared ends abut each other and the relatively great width of the flared ends provide a substantial bearing surface one on the other. A connecting plate l is placed over the abutting ends of the two members 5, and bolts or the like, lhwll may be passed through the two end apertures QMS) of vthe two units 5 5 and registering; apertures in the connecting plate ll). surfaces of the abutting ends on each other, only two bolts are required iior securing` two units to each other. li' the ends were rounded, the plate l0 would have to be considerably longer and at least four bolts would be required to torni a rigid unit. lVere it not for the iaring abutting` ends the built-up unit would be relatively weak at the junction point and would not t'orm such a rigid unit as is here shown.

Fig. 4f indicates another application of Due to the substantially ilat bearing Elli lll() the flared or fish-tail end construction of unit. in this Case the members7` such as5-V5, are secured to flanges 12-l3 on a fiat plate 11i. in this instance. the fianges are. provided with a plurality or" apertures, spaced 'from the main plate ld a distance equal t'o -ilie spacing of' the extreme end apertures ;--9 from the ends of the us.t-ructuia-l mem.- iers iis shown in Fig. ff, the flared loit, sach as 15; serves tok secure theplate if and unit 5 together. This construction therefore proV-idesa veryrigid and secure struct-ure.

-.Tiiile thestructural unit 5 has been shown as ofsubstantially dumb-bell type, that is, ln'orided With a.l flared end at each extremity, it isto beobserved' that in someAcases a unit having` but one fiai'ed' end-"Would suffice.

nd of' the structural unit has afsubsta'ntial )ear-ing surface on the plate le., and a single I do not Wish to be strictly limited to the form et the invention shown, since changes may be made Within the scope of' the inventionasdeiined in the appended claim.

claim:

A structural member for a toy building construction, comprising a one piece elongated slieet'metal body portion having` parallel sides with an integral fish tail flaring portion at one-end, squared ofi' at the end on a line at right angles to the center line ofsaid body portion, said body portion having a series of. correspondingly shaped pei'- forations arranged longitudinally thereof on said center line and spaced equidistant fron"L cacliother7 each end Aperforation of sa?. series beingA spaced from the adjacent end of then'iember substantially one-half the distance between two adjacent perioiations.

HOVABD H. WESSEL. 

